Making your own decals is a great way to produce the exact image that you want and use it to decorate walls, models, or any item. There are several ways to make your own decals; which method to use depends on how much time and money you want to spend on the project and how skilled you are with photo editing or graphic software. Simple drawings on contact paper make wall decals that add color and style to a room on a large scale, without spending a lot of money. For hobbyists or commercial decal designers, it may be worth investing in the equipment needed to design and produce decals digitally.

Making Decals With a Computer and Printer

You don't necessarily need to use a graphics tablet, but editing images can be simpler on these devices as you use your finger or a stylus to make changes rather than a mouse.

An optional thing to use is a Pantone color guide. This can standardize colors.

You can use this color guide to select a color and then use the Pantone color settings on your photo editing software to get the right color when you print your design.

2

Scan the image you want to produce into your computer. If you are skilled at digital design, another option is to draw the image in Photoshop or another graphic design or photo editing software program. [5]

Make sure you scan in the highest quality possible to make sure your image does not get distorted.

It is recommended that you scan your decal into your computer at 600dpi resolution and no lower than 300dpi resolution.

You can also obtain images on the internet to edit or use.

3

Edit the decal using computer software. You can use popular software such as Photoshop or GIMP to do this.

Make adjustments as needed to colors and shapes.

Resize the image so that it fits the space you want to cover.

4

Insert the white vinyl paper into the printer. Make sure it's facing the right way since printing on the wrong side may make the paper unusable.

If you aren't sure whether the paper should be placed face down or face up, use a plain white piece of paper to test.

Make a mark on one side, and then print to see which side is printed.

5

Make a decal sheet. This way you can fit as many decals onto one sheet of paper as possible.[6]

Make sure the designs don't overlap as you'll need to cut these out later.

This is a good way to prevent wasting vinyl paper, as it can be costly.

You can create these using photo-editing software.

Print your decal sheet. Make sure you print this on the white vinyl paper.

6

Print out the decal sheet on plain white paper. Check the color, brightness and contrast to make sure the printed version has the results you want.

Sometimes colors and shapes don't look the same on screen vs. on paper, so it is a good idea to do this step to check your design.

Make any adjustments to your design and print it again to double check it.

Hold the mock-up next to the wall or object you intend to put the decal on to make sure it looks correct.

7

Print your decal sheet onto the vinyl paper. Make sure it's facing the right way since printing on the wrong side may make the paper unusable.[7]

If you aren't sure whether the paper should be placed face down or face up, use a plain white piece of paper to test.

Make a mark on one side, and then print to see which side is printed.

If the printer ink won't stick to the vinyl paper, you have printed on the wrong side of the paper.

8

Laminate the page with a cold press laminator. Follow the instructions for the laminator to feed the image correctly.[8]

The laminator will protect the design and keep the colors from fading.

Press the laminate sheet down onto the decal sheet, sticky side down. The backing sheet from the laminate should be folded back several inches.

Feed the laminate sheet through the cold press laminator. As you do this the backing sheet from the laminate will separate.

Trim the excess laminate from your decal sheet before sending it through the laminator for best results.

9

Cut out the decal and apply it to your object. You can do this using sharp scissors.

Cut the decals out carefully, making sure to stay close to the outline of the decal.

You can trim any excess decal after it was been applied with an X-acto knife.

Peel off the backing from the vinyl sheet and stick the decal to your object.

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